


The Neck

by Rook_Rabble



Category: Danish Folklore - Fandom
Genre: drowning of children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-18 01:02:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19966150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rook_Rabble/pseuds/Rook_Rabble
Summary: In Every Folklore, there is something in the water we must fear and respect. In bogs and lakes, the sound of enticing music, the Neck wants a sacrifice every year, for he is the king of the depths.





	1. Dark water & Mournful music

**Author's Note:**

> Phrases with underlined __________ are my comment on the situation

**The Neck**

The Neck (Nøkken or Åmanden in danish) is a troll-like creature, which therefore often stays hidden in the depths of the lake. In the middelage Denmark, The neck was used to scare the children away from the lake and stay away from the water. the Neck could take the shape of a beautiful young man playing a violin, or an old man with black hair and beard, and gray clothes. The Neck has power over the life-giving and dark forces of the water. It is the Neck who ensures that the lake is full of fish and life. He also decides whether the fisherman gets a bite on the hook, as a payment for the life he gives to the lake, the Neck requires a man as a sacrifice once a year.

Many drowning accidents are therefore the fault of the Neck, even though it resembles an accident. When a boat wreck on the lake, the Neck can quickly grab the poor people around the ankles and pull them down into the depths. As a kind of flowers on the grave, you can often find white water lilies, the so-called ''Nøkkeroser'' on the surface of the lake. These plants have roots on the bottom of the lake in the garden of the Neck. Music in the mist If there is too much time between giving the Neck his victim, you can hear him calling from the lake. He is known to shout "Now is the time, but the man has not yet come" However, the Neck does not have to wait for someone to accidentally fall into the water, ''no sir'' He can lure and draw people in the lake as they approach the water on his own, for this purpose he plays magical tones on his violin, ''yes, this fish-man is a freaking maestro!'' The Neck is an unsurpassed violin player. He is also known for playing on harp or horn - but violin is his favorite instrument. With his music, he lures or tempts young musicians to visit him, ''but don't get too cocky, his not going to play second fiddle to a human'' his violin can also mimic the sound of baby's cry, which can surely get anyone to run into the stream.

**The Neck in Grenå**

A similar story is told in an place called Djursland in Grenå or Grenaa in the east Jutland, where two newfound lovers, heard the sound of a violin playing, which only lured them closer til water, until it turned to a baby's crying. The young couple vanished, nobody know what have happened, until weeks have passed, their bodies where found floating down the river, cover in bitemarks. ''Uuh what a heartbreaker''

The Neck's alluring music is as strong as the songs of the elves. When he plays melancholy tones on his violin, he can fill people with mindless thoughts, so they end up drowning themselves. Some people have actually claimed to have learned to play the violin by the Neck himself, but it requires a payment, ''No one knows what kind of payment, but i believe that's the catch''got it? a catch'' Ind return, one learns to play the magic tones from the Elven king's piece. It is said that everyone who hears the music is then caught by the tones that they will dance until the music stops. One rule says that you can only play 10 turns, because at the 11th turn, the player himself is caught by his own magic music. It will therefore end that everyone dances out of the room in a long chain dance. The magic song forces them all down to the water where they all drown.

As a precaution it is a good idea to leave a dime on the bridge before crossing a stream so that you are not chosen as the Neck next victim. ''By all the deadmen in the Dead Sea, with all the rapids I have to cross during the day, my bank account is gonna ends at the bottom of some random lake!''


	2. The Neck in Odense creek & The Rivertroll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lost boys & ''Læsåbobbanj''

The Neck in Odense creek

In Odense creek lived a Neck. Every year he demanded his victim, but then it happened a year he didn't get it. Then one day two little boys went and played at the bank. Suddenly one of them slipped and fell into the water. The other boy immediately ran to pull him up, but as he got hold of his playmate's hand, a deep voice sounded out of the water. It came from the Neck. He said, '' No, I want you both, because I got no last year ''. When the Neck had shouted this, the other boy slipped into the water as well. A short distance from the opposite bank, two men worked. They saw what happened. They quickly got hold of a boat and rowed to help the children, but they were to late. The two boys were drowned, and they never found their bodies. The Neck had kept them.

The Rivertroll in Læs-creek

On Sjæland he is called "The Neck'' but the wight that was held in the Læs-creek on Bornholm was called ''Læsåbobbanj ''. The Bornholmian Bobbanj corresponds to the Danish word "busseman or bogeyman".

In the parish Østermarie, the people talked about Åbobba the native word for ''Rivertroll'', and the children were warned against going too close to the dangerous river. In the 1850s, South Bornholm was told about a man who did not dare to cross Læs-creek at Vasegård on a dark winter evening for fear that it was at that time when the Neck would demand its sacrifice. The man asked shelter for the night at Vasegård and got it; but in the middle of the night the voice sounded with the cries: "The time is right, but the man has not come!" In the morning the man was found dead in bed.


End file.
